The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-02-12
STYLES IN DANCING.
Profession of the Terpsichorean Art In
venting Intricate Figures.

venting Intricate Figures.
The only persons who can work at
cross purposes successfully are dancing
masters. They have their own peculiar
ideas, which are forever changing, and
the result is that their pupils are nearly
always in healpless state of confusion.
Each dancing-master, or professor, as
he likes to be called, is great inventor
in his own way. A few years ago,
when the Saratoga was first introduced.
an uptown professor noticed that none
OF his seventy-fve or eighty pupils could
dance it nearly so well as young lady
who turned her toes in. He immedia-
tely concluded that this was the only to
execute this dance. His pupils were
shocked at the next lesson to see the
elderly and dignifed professor walk
across the waxed floor with his
toes striking against each other and
his legs curved like rainbow. This
style was not popular and the efforts
of the professor to introduce it
nearly ruined him financially. 1t
spoiled the contour of his legs,
for he has been a trife pigeon-toed
ever since. In ballroom few nights
ago four couples were doing the best
they could to dance the lanciers. They
had never seen each other before, and
so they smiled sweetly when they col
lided, and said: Excuse me, :" or Il beg
your pardon Secretly they dubbed
each other ignoramuses who did not
know any thing more about dancing than
a COW. Later in the evening they met
again, and, of course, the talk turned
upon dancing. To the amazement of
all they learned they had been taught
to dance by the same teacher. Their
classes only lasted year, but the steps
having changed in style as often as the
style of Il plug hat changed, they found
it impossible to dance together with
any degree of comfort.
At meeting of the professors of 1884
several neg dances We're originated.
Among these were the excelsior waltz
and the waltz-quadrille Especially. 1t
was also determined that the proper
way to dance the lanciers was with eight
couples instead of with four, and that
the german could be vastly improved
by the addition of several complicated
figures. The professors agreed to frOwn
upon the society waltz, because a num-
Der of vulgar persons had exaggerated
it so that it was simply a burlesque. 1t
was accordingly frowned upon by him,
but in Il few weeks it was revived under
the various names of redowa, glissade,
the knickerbocker, the kick, the scoop,
the telephone and dozen other Pile
bian titles. After deal of study and
patient thought the excelsior was intro
duced. This was intended to be danced
with moderate slide and the redowa
step revolution, with the side step sim
liar to that of the galop. TWAS thought
that this would fill the bill operfection,
but it had hardly been introduced before
a lot of professors who didn't belong to
the society began teaching it, too, and
so made it common and vulgar. The
only dance that has held its own despite
all the innovations is the waltz-quad-
rifle.
The lanciers are changed, too"
said an old professor They were
formerly danced in the old Saratoga
style, but now it takes eight couples to
go through with them properly. The
heads chassez from right to left diago-
nally. not forward and back as in the
old style. This keeps all the couples in
motion at the same time"
The Columbia is around dance, somc-
thing like the American gayot, only
livelier and considerably more intricate.
A very popular dance is the octagon,
and one reason for its popularity is the
fact that there is no Waiting in it.
There are thousands of pleasure-loving
people who are bitterly opposed to
waltzing because they deem it improper
for a young man to place his arm about
young woman unless she is his wife.
Even then they think that any such
action as this should be confined TO
g.